One Hell Of A Night
by MayR9
Summary: Ichiko finds herself in a predicament one night after one too many drinks.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING! - Non-Con elements!**

"Humph, can't care for myself indeed," muttered the girl with short brown hair; she was walking down a lonely deserted ally. It was around 1 am and Ichiko still could not tell where she was. She was wearing an ocean blue, sheer dress that went down to her knees, the sleeves were tight down to her elbows before flaring out like magician's; it had a V-neck and she wore white sandals. Her left hand was clutching her head while her right hand was dragging across the wall as she walked.

"I'm not lost," Ichiko stated firmly, looking around. It was dark, but she could make out a trash bin; up ahead looked to be a street light.

"Ha! A street, I'm soooo not lost," Ichiko said triumphantly. She quickened her pace and soon found herself underneath the streetlamp. With a smile to herself, she looked around. As she did her smile fell.

She was at about the middle of a very run down, poor looking street. Closed up shops with peeling paint were lining both sides of the street. A 24-hour store at one corner of the road and a drug store at the other corner were the only two shops still open, however, the lights flickered and were very dim. The only good light was the street light above her and the street lights on both corners.

Ichiko cursed silently, this was one of those streets that people got kidnapped on. She began to regret walking away from that party and all those drinks she downed.

~Flashback~

 _Ichiko smiled happily to herself; glad that she was invited to the party her classmates were throwing to celebrate their class's graduation. Alcohol was promised to be there, and that was just what she needed. Her head was still full of Yumemi telling her that she was going to live with the red bastard of a king, and Suzume gushing about her Kazuya and how both were talking about how great their men were._

 _She felt a moment of hatred toward them as she entered the house the party was in, but squashed it down, she hadn't told them of her breakup with Takashi. She hadn't the heart to spoil their happy moment together talking of their loves._

 _Yes, Ichiko had acknowledged Yumemi's love of the red bastard and the islands. She had stopped telling Yumemi not to go up there. It was obvious that Yumemi belonged there, in the sky, out of reach._

 _She was about to think more on the matter of her depression, when a beer was thrust into her hand by a random person and loud pop music began to play. People amassed in the center of the living room and danced like they were in a club._

 _Ichiko smiled, yes, this was just what she needed to forget her troubles._

~End~

'It was a nice party,' Ichiko mused as she stood leaning on the ally's wall, 'at least while it lasted.' Apparently they had their music up too loud, and a neighbor had called the police about it. Everyone had scattered, even though there wasn't any real reason to. But if she thought about it, Ichiko could've sworn she saw someone with drugs, so, scattering had been a good idea. And that had landed her in the bad part of town. 'Maybe a jail cell would've been better than this.' With a defeated sigh, Ichiko looked to the night sky.

There they were. Those damned islands. What was so great about them? What made them so special? Were they more important than her? Ichiko was so mad, and so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice that she had started walking again. She felt the raw anger course through her veins. As irrational as her anger toward _that_ island was, she couldn't stop it. The anger gave her a strength she didn't know she had. The next thing she knew, she was standing in a park.

Strike that, she was standing in _the_ park. The place she had lost one of her best friends. The place where she realized she would be _abandoned_ by one of her best friends. Suddenly the anger was gone, replaced by hurt. A hurt that made her muscles weak and unstable, a hurt so overwhelming that Ichiko collapsed entirely.

Her knees hit the damp grass and she clenched at the fabric above her heart, trying in vain to ease the pain she felt.

 _You are a worthless child_

Her vision blurred and it became an effort to even breathe.

 _How could anyone not abandon something like you?_

One hand gripped her head, trying to get rid of that voice that was made of nothing but pure venom

 _I would count myself lucky to never see you again_

"No," Ichiko whispered

 _I wouldn't be surprised if you never had any friends_

"Stop it"

 _And even if you managed, they would abandon you before long_

"Please, leave me be"

 _Ha, maybe in the loneliness you'll die_

She hunched over, attempting to breathe evenly, if only to chase away the blackness seeping into her vision.

 _Everyone would be better off that way_

The voice faded. Ichiko let out gasping breaths and the blackness encroaching on her vision disappeared, but everything was still blurry and she couldn't regain a normal breathing pattern. Confused she touched her eyes, and pulled away. Completely shocked at the wetness she found.

'That explains it,' she thought wearily. 'I'm crying.' With that thought she let out a shuddering sob. Hands on her face in a desperate attempt to muffle her cries, hunched over in an empty park, Ichiko let out years of built up hurt in the form of tears.

She felt herself calm after what she guessed to be about 30 minutes. As her cries lessened, she heard the sounds of crickets and other night-roaming animals. Her breathing returned to normal and she wiped her eyes and face, wincing when she realized that what little make-up she bothered to put on was ruined.

Raucous laughter made her whip her head up and look around. She could make out a group of figures, guys by the sound of it, through the trees walking down the side-walk. Deciding that she'd rather not be here at this particular time of night, Ichiko went to stand, and fell back down. Eyes widening, she tried again, only for the same thing to happen. Cursing her legs for being weak (and alcohol for affecting her sense of balance and her emotions), Ichiko crawled over to the nearest object that could be used as cover, which so happened to be some bushes clustered by the fence that wrapped around the Ferris Wheel.

'There should be no reason for them to come here,' Ichiko thought while she hid herself. She glanced at the connection between Earth and the Islands. The huge white pillar seemed to glow with a strange, soft light; 'Unless they want to look at that; but who would do that at this time of night? No one, that's who.'

Ichiko felt her heart plummet to her stomach as the very loud group of rather drunk looking males made their way to the pillar and by consequence, her.

"Look at that!" One of them slurred, pointing. "It's that big, baaaad thing that everyone's been freakin' about!"

"Wha's so great about it anyway?"

"And, and!" Another yelled obnoxiously, "all the gu-goven-governments are freakin' 'bout it too!"

"Whinin' 'bout islands in the sky!"

"Tha's BULL!"

"Ain't no such thing! Dem aliens, not no 'Heavenly Bein's'!"

"An anyone who believes those lies," the first one slurred, "are nothin' but useless."

Ichiko desperately tried to tune the man out.

"Pathetic"

She clenched her eyes shut.

"No-goods"

'Ignore them!' She thought stubbornly to herself.

"Who can't handle reality!"

The other four men cheered in agreement.

"They're gullible tah believe tha a girl is up there, too!"

"Tha's right!" The others chorused

"I bet ya she made the whole damn thing up!"

"SHUT UP!" Ichiko shouted at them, springing to her feet. The men fell silent and stared at her. A moment passed before the one who had spoken the most grinned like a freak. Ichiko felt a sense of dread crash through her, but firmly stood her ground. She was standing now, she could fight if she had to. At least, that's what she told herself.

"A' wha'd we have here?" The other men started to grin as well.

"Looks tah me like a little girly," one answered.

"An' wha's a pretty little girly doin' here?" Ichiko was staring to think this guy was the groups' leader.

"Leaving" Ichiko stated in a matter-of-fact way, starting to do just that. However, before she could get two steps away, a sweaty hand grabbed her arm in a vice-like grip. She gasped in shock, this guy was obviously drunk! How did he move so fast?

"Me thinks this lil' girly is here 'cause e's lookin' for some companionship"

With that the other four started to advance, and Ichiko took that as her que to leave. In a move that was far less coordinated than she would've liked, Ichiko twisted out of the man's hold and elbowed him right under his rib cage, causing him to lose his breath, and she ran. She didn't get far before one of the men tackled her face-down to the ground and used his weight to keep her there.

"Let me GO!" Ichiko wriggled around attempting to escape, but the others had grabbed her legs and arms to prevent her escape.

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** First Multi-Chapter fic! :D I hope you all have enjoyed it so far ;)  
I'll be putting up the next chapter in about a week!


	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING! Non-Con Elements!**

"Assholes! Bastards! Jackasses!" Ichiko screamed.

"Shut 'er up!"

The man on top of her yanked her head up by her hair.

"Sons of Bitches—mumph!" some sort of cloth was shoved into her mouth and part of it went down her throat a little. The pain from her hair and having the cloth brutality shoved in her mouth caused her to tear up.

"This'll be fun," one of the men said, rubbing her calf.

"Mumph!" Ichiko started to struggle wildly and in all her struggling, she managed to push the cloth out of her mouth.

"LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY! HELP! ANYBOD—Umph!" the man on top of her harshly shoved the cloth back in and kept his large, sweaty, disgusting hand over her mouth, and by consequence, her nose, preventing her from breathing. This however did not deter her struggling; in fact, it pushed her into struggling even more. Alas, her movements were severely hindered as the five man kept a firm hold of her. It was almost hard to believe they were drunk at all. But they stank of alcohol and she did manage to loosen their grips a few times.

Ichiko was panicked and scared. She did not want this to happen. As blackness once again encroached on her vision, she belatedly wondered if passing out in this situation was actually a good thing. She wouldn't feel any pain in that scenario. Ichiko inwardly smacked herself, passing out would mean that she couldn't fight, and if she couldn't fight, then they would surely do whatever they wanted to and she refused to let that happen. Try as she might, she couldn't dislodge any of them.

Suddenly there were hands rubbing up and down her body. She felt her dress go higher and higher, revealing more and more of her thighs.

'I can't stop them,' Ichiko thought frantically. Tears finally started rolling down her cheeks as she realized that she wouldn't be able to fight her way out of this. The blackness continued to spread, and her hearing started to fade. She was going to lose consciousness soon, and once that happened she realized that she was doomed. 'I'll be as worthless as she said I was,' Ichiko thought as the only thing she could hear became her own heartbeat.

Abruptly, air flooded into her system. Ichiko took huge breaths through her nose. And as her senses returned to her, she realized that the man on her back was gone, along with the man who had been holding down her right leg. The perverts were shouting, and shortly thereafter the two holding down her left side were gone. With an arm free, Ichiko reached up and yanked the cloth out of her mouth.

"Wha-wha-what the hell!" the leader was the only one left and he was practically sitting on her right arm, one hand gripping her shoulder, and other had snaked its way onto her back, underneath her dress; right over the clasp holding her bra together.

"The amount of Akuto here is pitiful," a slightly familiar voice said, before a small pop sounded and the leader yelped, his weight disappearing from her.

Tears were blurring her sight and she coughed violently as she rolled onto her back, before sitting up and looking at the cloth in her hand. It was now soaked, but it was still obviously a handkerchief. Ichiko tossed it away before remembering there was someone behind her. Lurching to her feet and turning around at the same time turned out to be a rather bad idea. As her vision blurred and blackened rapidly, she could barely make out a blue blob coming toward her and a voice before the combination of the alcohol still in her system and the stress caused by the situation proved too much for her legs, which decided to give out.

However she did not hit the ground as she had expected. Instead she collapsed into someone who was warm and blue. As she looked up into what she assumed to be the blue person's face, she was overcome with a peculiar sense of security, which caused her to relax and give into her body's needs.

'I feel . . . _safe'_ was Ichiko's last thought, before she lost consciousness.

* * *

When Lord Munto had said that they needed to make an alliance with the humans, Rui honestly thought that Munto would actually go down to Earth himself, associate with the many major kingdoms' leaders, and perhaps blow off a meeting (or two) to court Yumemi (he seemed to like her quite a bit). But no, Munto couldn't be bothered with such things. Rui scowled darkly. No, Munto had only enough patience to wait for the girl to finish 'High School,' whatever that was, and then kindly kidnap her to make her his queen in order to create the afore mentioned alliance.

Rui turned to the guards behind him and snapped, "If you would be so kind as to grant me some privacy to think over today's proposals." Without waiting for a response, Rui entered his room and slammed the door before locking it. He was only a general! Commander of a portion of the army! Not some wiz at politics! And here he was playing ambassador!? And playing as an ambassador to humans no less! He couldn't stand them! Those beings who thought themselves better than him, believing themselves superior with those black click-y things they paraded around with threateningly. What were they called again? Goons? Gugs? Guns? Yes, that was it; guns, what a strange sounding name for a strange weapon.

But those leaders! With their superior than thou attitudes, demanding things they had no need to have, demanding knowledge that didn't concern them; they infuriated him the most! They should simply accept the Magical Kingdom's offer of an alliance rather than make outrageous demands! Like the Magical Kingdom needed these leaders in any way! It made his blood boil.

With a sigh, Rui flopped down on his bed. He wasn't cut out to be an ambassador. He had nearly shouted at those self-centered idiots. They reminded him of the old council members, always needing to have things go their way.

Rui knew not all humans were like that. Yumemi and her friends were strong proof of this. The shortest, Suzume he believed, was undoubtedly the silliest, and yet she seemed to have wisdom beyond her years. Yumemi herself was a shy, timid girl, who seemed rather unsure of herself and her abilities. She balanced Munto perfectly in that sense, seeing as he has a bit too much confidence. Then there was the other girl, Ichiko Ono, if he remembered correctly. She was head strong, unbelievably stubborn, and extremely feisty. But she was incredibly protective of her friends; kept Yumemi grounded, and had enough maturity to balance out the other one. The trio worked well to offset each other; a true group of friends.

Rui sighed again and turned over on his other side, pulling out a communicator and placing on the pillow. Something about that Ichiko girl had rubbed him the wrong way. The one time Yumemi's friends had dinner up in the Magical Kingdom, it had turned into a complete disaster. He and Ichiko could not stop arguing and insulting each other. What was irritating was that Munto had given him a weird look. And Yumemi had smiled at him in an odd way once her friends had gone back to earth. And after that, Munto started to try to give him courting advice! What did Munto think was going on? It was almost as bad as when Munto had tried to set him up with various other women. Munto's plans had failed rather spectacularly, but it was still irritating to think about.

"Rui?" he jumped, and looked to the communicator. Munto was giving him an odd look.

"Yes?" he prompted

"Are you alright?" Munto inquired. "You were zoned out on me, and you're lying down. You looked like you were going to fall asleep."

Rui quickly sat up. "It's just these human leaders. They are very irritating."

"Yes," Munto agreed, "Their demands imply that they believe we are inferior to them."

"They have their guards following me around constantly. How are the boarders?"

"A few skirmishes here and there; nothing major to worry about."

"You know that they could simply be testing out our defenses." Rui gave him a pointed look.

Munto sighed. "I know, and you want to leave earth and come home."

Rui groaned, "I don't think I can do this for much longer. I nearly yelled at them today."

Munto grinned. "I see. Well, you're lucky that the ambassador set to Ender has returned and has successfully completed the treaty. Why don't you come on up and she'll be down on Earth before the sun rises."

"That sounds great, but what about the guards outside my door?"

"Just go through them."

Rui frowned, "I think I'll just go through the window and ditch them."

"You have no sense of adventure."

"You have no sense of politics."

"True enough. See you when you get here." With that, the communicator shut off and Rui put it back in his pocket. With a huff, he got off the bed and walked over to the window. After a moment of struggling, he managed to get the window open enough to slip through. He stood on the sill for a minute, simply admiring the view of the city, before he took to the skies, heading to the pillar connecting the Heavens with the Earth.

It took a while, what with the sad amount of Akuto in the air, but Rui eventually found himself hovering above the trees, admiring the soft glow the pillar gave off. He could make out a few voices below him, but he didn't feel up to dealing with more humans. Shaking his head Rui gathered enough Akuto to propel himself up.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rui nearly fell out of the sky when a voice started screaming.

"GO AWAY! HELP!" the voice sounded oddly familiar. Where had he heard this female's voice before?

"ANYBOD—" The voice was abruptly cut off, and the name had been on the tip of his tongue too! Rui felt his curiosity peak as the desire to know what was going on over came him. With a long, drawn out sigh, Rui slowly descended into a patch of trees. Walking over to where he believed the voices to be coming from, all Rui could make out were what seemed to be a mass of figures.

Feeling slightly irked with himself for needing to know what was going on, Rui walked out of the trees to what he assumed to be the front of the mass. Squinting, Rui made out six different figures. Taking another step closer, Rui scowled in disgust. There were five men pinning down a girl in a light blue dress.

Guessing at what they wanted to do, Rui created a ball of Akuto to give himself more light, he found himself looking at the girl pinned face-down to the ground. He saw some tears roll down her cheeks and he realized that the man who was sitting on her back had a hand covering her mouth and nose. He also noted that the girl had a dazed look in her brown eyes and that she was probably losing consciousness.

"Who'r you?" one of the men said, taking notice of Rui's presence. Rui didn't hear him. He was frozen in shock. The girl being pinned to the ground in a completely unfriendly manner was the none other than Ichiko Ono.

"I asked ya a fuckin' question!" the man on Ichiko's back yelled. Rui looked at him, feeling waves of anger and a small twinge of protectiveness crash through him. Without another thought, Rui flicked the small ball of Akuto at the man on her back. He went flying backwards as the Akuto crashed into him, hitting one of the other men, causing both to crash into a nearby tree. The rest looked between Rui and the two knocked out men, confusion evident in their expressions.

"Momozaki!"

"Man, you guys ok!?"

Rui created another Akuto ball with a twist of his wrist.

"The fuck!?"

"Who'r you!?"

With a dark look, Rui flicked the Akuto at the two men holding down Ichiko's left side. They both went flying and slammed into a metal fence.

"Wha-wha-what the hell!" Rui frowned as it took a little longer to create the next Akuto ball.

"The amount of Akuto here is pitiful." With that, Rui flicked the Akuto at the man, and couldn't help the smirk of satisfaction as he went farther than the others to slam into the metal of a knocked over, giant wheel.

He started when Ichiko rolled onto her back and began to cough. Taking a step closer to her, he watched as she tossed what looked like a square of cloth into the grass. As he continued closer, he was startled to a stop when she suddenly stiffened, and shot to her feet while turning at the same time. Rui saw her legs quiver mid-turn, and then give out before she had stood up completely. "Hey!" Without thinking Rui lurched forward, catching her before she hit the ground.

Rui looked down at the half-conscious girl in his arms. She slowly looked up at him. There were some black streaks by her eyes, which were red and slightly swollen. Ichiko's eyes were unfocused and drooping closed. What really stunned him were the words that she said, in more of a questioning manor: "I feel . . . safe?"

Before Rui could react, Ichiko fell limp in his hold. He blinked at her and then looked around, noticing that he was the only person in the park who was conscious. He looked back at her, slightly frowning this time. Rui then decided to voice his problem out loud.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Rui looked around again, a bit more frantically. He was a _general_ ; he was trained to lead his troops in combat! Not do _this_ , whatever _this_ was! Was he just supposed to leave her here? If he did that, then what if the men awoke before she did? He should, uh, take her to her house! At that thought Rui perked up, before deflating again. He had no idea where she lived!

With another sigh, Rui slipped one arm under Ichiko's knees and wrapped the other arm around her shoulders, lifting her to his chest. He had no other choice. Ichiko obviously needed a safe place to rest. Rui had to take her to the Magical Kingdom.

* * *

Rui sighed, and stepped back to take a look at his handy work. Ichiko lay curled under the blankets on one side of Rui's rather large, circular shaped bed. She had a firm grip on one of his many pillows (there were about twenty-three total) and was breathing in an even, steady pace. Nodding to himself, Rui turned to shed his clothes, and pulled on a pair of sleeping pants; happy that he could go to bed and sleep off his rather odd day.

Rui then turned around, only to realize he had yet another problem. If Ichiko was using his bed, then where would he sleep? He frowned for a moment before shrugging and climbing under the blankets and settling down on the other side of his bed. If he stayed on his side and Ichiko stayed on her side then all would be well.

With that thought, Rui finally allowed himself to drift off into the welcoming arms of sleep.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Sooooo, yeah. Second chapter out! :D I'm thinking one last chapter to wrap up everything. Rui could possibly be ooc. I watched the entire series again but he gets so little screen time that all I could really gather about him is that he's protective of his friends and was really mad that Munto went missing before he was to meet with the representatives. And Munto himself is rather impulsive. So feedback? Please?


	3. Chapter 3

Sunlight streamed into Rui's bedroom from the glass doors. Rui groaned; he really didn't want to get up. Getting up meant dealing with Munto and his mood swings and Rui didn't feel like doing that just yet. Moreover, there was a very nice, very warm pillow in his arms. He sighed happily, nuzzling his nose into a dip between two soft, yet firm mounds. This pillow was kind of strange, Rui thought and then he absently wondered where he got it.

A soft sigh sounded and Rui's new pillow shifted ever so slightly. Rui froze; his mind trying to process why, in the name of all the Heavens, his pillow would _move_ let alone _sigh_! Wait a minute. Pillows **didn't** _move_ or _sigh_! Then what in the Heavens was he sleeping on!?

Rui slowly lifted his head to look at what he had been nuzzling just seconds earlier. A light blue fabric covering something that had mounds on it; he looked higher, there! The blue ended in a white trimming. It looked a bit like lace, but he wasn't entirely sure. A bit higher-that wasn't fabric, but it was faintly tanned. A nice color for a woman, he supposed. Looking higher still, Rui saw what looked like, well, collar bones, then a slim-still faintly tanned- column. Rui froze as he looked up into what could be nothing other than a face. Long brown bangs rested on the pillow and soft breaths escaped slightly parted, lightly pink lips.

Rui blinked once.

Twice.

Then a third time in an attempt to make his muddled mind work (he wasn't a morning person, everyone knew that). Images from the previous night suddenly poured into his head. Ichiko, he had brought Ichiko to the Magical Kingdom because he couldn't just leave her where she was and he didn't know where she lived. He brought her to his room because he was too tired to deal with servants asking about why she was there in the first place. He had decided to be nice and let her sleep in his bed while he slept on the other side—Wait, his bed!

Rui jumped up and hurriedly unwrapped his arms and causing hers to unwrap as well; staring horror-struck as he realized just what he had nuzzled a few minutes ago. Face red as Munto's hair, he went to leave the bed when she moved. Rui froze, watching her, and he desperately wished for her to remain asleep. After rolling over, Ichiko's hands reached for one of Rui's many pillows (He liked pillows, it was something of a secret pleasure of his) and clutching it to her chest, she settled back into sleep.

He quickly left the bed and changed into his clothes. Rui needed food. Thinking this early was a bad idea, food first, problem solving after.

Getting to the dining room was easy enough. The sight that greeted him was a bit unexpected, though. Munto sat at one of the chairs, brooding. Sure, Rui had seen Munto brood before, but he usually brooded where no one could see him. Munto did have a reputation to maintain after all.

"Good morning?" Rui ventured. A broody Munto usually meant a spastic Munto; the littlest thing could set him off.

"Good morning?" Munto echoed, "Tell me why, in the name of the Heavens, this morning is in any way, good."

Rui inwardly cringed. That had been the wrong thing to say. Oh who cares? It was too early for dealing with Munto's moods! "Well, it's a good morning for me, seeing as I woke up here and not on Earth!" he snapped. He really wasn't the best in the mornings. All he wanted to do was crawl back under his pillows.

Munto blinked and remained silent. Rui had been away for so long, that Munto had forgotten that his general wasn't a morning person. He remained silent as Rui gathered some food and sat down at the chair farthest from him. Munto sighed, he couldn't help that he was agitated! He was just worried. One never knew what would happen on Earth, and even if Yumemi had grown up there, there were still plenty of dangers that she might not be able to handle. Munto was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Rui finishing his food and leaving.

Rui sighed, and instead of going to his room, he decided to go to the garden. It was always peaceful, and he could gather himself (and his patience) so that he could face the problems of the day. Besides, the garden was the most likely place to find Yumemi when she wasn't with Munto. After all, Rui did have to explain to her why one of her best friends was in his bedroom. That was going to be an awkward conversation.

Rui spent about thirty minutes simply waking up. He needed to be fully awake before he tried to explain anything to Yumemi. He didn't want to just blurt out what happened to her. When it came to Yumemi's friends, the woman could be scarier than Munto. It was like going into battle. He needed some tactics, a plan. And a good one at that; as he thought, he paced. Before he knew it, he was walking around the garden. Rui paused when he realized what he was doing. Then he steeled himself. If he ran into Yumemi before he had a plan, he was just going to tell it like it was. There was something odd going on in the park last night as he was returning and he brought Ichiko up because he figured that was the best thing to do. He nodded to himself-that was the plan, tell it like it is-before resuming his searching.

About an hour later Rui was confused. He had walked the entire garden, twice! And Yumemi was nowhere to be found. Thinking he had missed her, Rui had also flown up and scanned the entire place. No Yumemi. Where was she? Worried, he decided that the only person to ask was Munto. He always knew exactly where Yumemi was.

Hurrying down the corridors, Rui passed the open library door, and paused. Peeking into the library, he spotted Munto sitting in his favorite couch, still brooding. A quick look around showed that Yumemi wasn't here either. Quietly making his way in, Rui walked up to Munto and waited till he looked up from the floor.

"Sorry about earlier." Munto spoke first. Rui was surprised, but before he could say anything Munto interrupted him. "I'd forgotten that you weren't a morning person."

"It's fine," Rui muttered. This turn of events had thrown him for a loop. He was usually the one to apologize, but no matter, he had a mission. "Where is Miss Yumemi?" Rui asked, trying very hard to make it sound like small talk.

Munto gave a long-suffering sigh. "That is the reason for my agitation Rui. Yumemi is not here."

Rui froze. The first thought was that one of the other nations had kidnapped her, but if that was the case Munto would have already prepared a team to rescue her. But what else could've happened? "What do you mean by that, Lord Munto?" Rui could feel a coldness seep into him. He had the distinct impression that he would not like Munto's answer.

Munto looked out the window, a forlorn expression on his face. "Yumemi wanted to visit her family. I told her they could come up here, but she thought that that would be too much of a change for them. So she went to Earth."

Rui nearly fell over in relief; he had been worried that Munto would say that Yumemi had gone to visit her friends.

Munto sighed again, "She guessed that she would stay with her family till about noon." Rui looked up at the sky; and blinked in surprise. It was almost noon. Oh Heavens, he had spent longer in the garden than he realized. "So Miss Yumemi will be back soon?" he asked.

"No, she wanted to go shopping with Suzume and Ichiko. She was so excited about it, but so many things could happen. Those metal boxes on wheels could hit them, or blow up, or they could get lost. Do you know why humans find shopping to be so fun? I must say that I don't quite understand the concept or appeal. Rui? Are you alright?"

Rui had only heard Munto's first sentence. The rest might as well have been gibberish. She was going to visit her friends. Ichiko wasn't going to be there. Kill him now. Save him from the torture Yumemi would put him through and just kill him now. Wait, it was only just noon. Yumemi might not know of Ichiko's absence yet! If that was the case, then he could avert the whole crisis. He just had to get Ichiko back down to Earth!

"Rui!" Munto shouted, shaking his general's shoulders. Munto had only seen Rui go this pale when they had accidentally destroyed a building when they were younger. Rui seemed to come back to himself, and quickly detached himself from Munto. "Yes, that's all I have to do. Both problems solved; no worries. . ." Rui's mumbling dropped and Munto couldn't hear what he was saying. "Rui?" he ventured.

"So sorry, I just remembered something that needs my immediate attention." That was the only explanation Munto got, for Rui was already out the doors. Munto frowned. First Yumemi leaves (he's being childish about that, he knows, but still!) and now Rui's acting weird. Munto just shook his head, and decided that he should see how Ryuely was doing. He hadn't seen her in a while.

Rui practically flew to his room. One half of him hoping that Ichiko was still asleep; the other half hoping that she was awake.

* * *

A long corridor; a sense of dread as the end of the corridor came closer, the small door seeming to become the most evil thing she had ever seen. Hands were leading her to the door; she didn't want to go through that door. But she couldn't stop, couldn't struggle. She was face-down on a damp ground, hands holding her down, she couldn't struggle. Other hands reaching and touching; No! She didn't want this! No! Warmth; hands holding her, hands that were warm, holding her to a warm chest; soft fabric covered the warm chest. A sense of safety, a sense she had not felt since she was a young girl, back when her family was still whole.

Ichiko felt as if she was wrapped in warmth, and sunlight was streaming in from her window. It was nice. Her father wasn't yelling about something or other, and her alarm clock wasn't ringing; it was quiet and peaceful. Her sheets were unusually soft and wrapped snugly around her, no air blowing on her from the ceiling and no gaps between the blanket and the bed. This had to be the nicest morning she'd ever had. A small smile escaped her. A few more minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt anybody. Within seconds, Ichiko was asleep again. Just as dreams enveloped her, the door was opened cautiously.

* * *

Rui peeked his head into his bedroom, careful not to make any noise, lest he startle Ichiko. Realizing that she was still asleep, Rui silently slipped in and walked over to her. Ichiko had completely wrapped herself in his ocean blue blanket and was clutching his only baby blue pillow to her chest (so practically everything about his bed was different shades of blue, big deal). Examining her, Rui realized that in order to get her to Earth, he was going to have to sacrifice his blanket and his pillow. He could deal with the loss of his blanket; he had about five others just like it. Letting her keep his pillow however, was a big no-no. That was his ONLY pillow in the baby blue shade, and it was a rather plushy, extremely soft pillow. Frowning slightly, Rui reached for a corner of his pillow and lightly tugged. The pillow didn't budge. Rui tugged harder and Ichiko tighten her grip. Frustrated, Rui gripped his pillow tightly and yanked.

"No, stop, mine." Rui froze all movements as Ichiko spoke. She rolled over, and Rui let go of his pillow as she had it firmly in her grasp. He figured that the only way to get it back would be to wake her up, and he wasn't up to waking her just yet. Heaving a sigh, Rui decided he would just have to let her have the pillow… as much as it pained him (he was severely attached to all of his pillows).

Heaving another sigh, Rui carefully scooped Ichiko up into his arms. After checking to make sure she was securely wrapped in his blanket, Rui walked over to his glass doors and kicked them open. Double checking to make sure Ichiko was secure enough for flight, Rui took to the sky; hoping that this would be a short and painless flight. He really didn't want to get hit by the now sleeping girl.

As he flew down to Earth, Rui thought back to the relationship he had with the girl in his arms. At the dinner, Rui had caught Ichiko looking him up and down. This had confused him, as no one but other men (who had wanted to challenge his position as general) had sized him up in such a way. When their eyes had met, she had glared at him. He had been startled, but had glared back none the less. Ichiko had said something to someone else, and Rui had felt the childish need to correct her, and so he did. This is what had started their name calling and arguments. He had called her a bean sprout (she was tall for a human, but still short compared to him) and she had called him cotton candy head (whatever 'cotton candy' was). This name calling happened every time they met. Though there were the few times where Rui _admired_ Ichiko from afar. Yes, admired. She was strong and as protective of her friends as he was. It was obvious (to him, at least), that letting Yumemi go and being unable to protect her was very hard for Ichiko to do, and yet she did it. Yumemi only visited Earth once every two months, sometimes even less than that. Rui felt that the least he could do was admire this inner strength from afar.

As Rui broke through the clouds, he found himself in Earth's atmosphere once again. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Rui forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand. Get Ichiko to her home before Yumemi and Suzume got there.

"Ooooh, pretty." The voice caused Rui to nearly drop Ichiko. Looking down, he realized that it was Ichiko who spoke. She was gazing around sleepily, eyes half lidded, and hair being tossed around in the slight breeze. His blanket was pulled up so that her lips were barely visible and she looked absolutely adorable. Rui quickly dispelled his thoughts, figuring that Ichiko couldn't've picked a better time to wake up.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" Rui asked, as he began to head in the direction of Yumemi's house, hoping Ichiko could guide them from there.

"Hmmmm" Ichiko looked up at him, and softly smiled. Rui thought his heart would stop, she was more than adorable, she was gorgeous! "You were the blue blob that saved me, right?"

Collecting himself, Rui answered her, "Yes, but I need you to point me in the direction of your home. Can you do that?" He held his breath, waiting for her to blow up in his face.

"Sure," was all she said, still smiling. Working a hand free, Ichiko pointed to their left, "That way".

Rui turned and headed in the direction she pointed to, baffled by her behavior. Perhaps she wasn't herself in the morning? It was the only explanation he could come up with. She was speaking in a soft tone and was being so placid, so docile. Either way, Rui thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't getting yelled at or punched or slapped or kicked. She could be very violent sometimes!

"Turn right." Rui obeyed her instructions and in less than five minutes, he found himself on the roof of her house.

"This may feel a bit odd," Rui warned, before he teleported down into what he hoped was her room. Ichiko blinked and smiled up at him. "You got the right room, now I can rest more." With that, Ichiko leaned up and kissed Rui's cheek as he set her down on her bed.

Rui froze with shock at the light touch while Ichiko rolled over and promptly went back to sleep. Rui stood there for a good while, trying to process what had just happened. After another minute, Rui gave up, opened the window, and flew out. He needed to get back to the Magical Kingdom, where things made sense!

* * *

Ichiko inhaled. Her sheets had the faintest sent of the ocean mixed with a hint of peppermint. It was nice, and it reminded her of a certain blue-clad general. Shifting, Ichiko felt the silk blanket loosen around her. Wait one minute. She didn't own anything that was made of silk! Much less a _whole blanket_!

Opening her eyes, Ichiko sat up and looked around. She was in her own room, in her own bed. But she wasn't wrapped up in her blanket. The blanket wrapped around her was a beautiful ocean blue and was made of the finest silk she had ever seen. Examining the blanket made Ichiko realized that the pillow she was holding wasn't her pillow. It was a baby blue color and was unbelievably soft and plushy.

Confused, Ichiko noticed that she wasn't wearing her night clothes. She was wearing her blue party dress, but she wasn't wearing her shoes. Suddenly the memories from the other night and the time she was half awake flooded into her mind. She shivered in disgust when she recalled what those men had wanted from her, and she blushed a red that could rival a tomato when she remembered who had brought her home and what she had done as thanks. And since when had she _ever_ thought of that blue-haired cotton candy head as comforting and 'safe'!?

Hurrying out of bed and into her bathroom, Ichiko shed her clothes as she went. Pulling her phone out of her bra, she checked the time as she dressed in pants and a simple purple tee-shirt. The time read 12:15. Ichiko balked. She had never stayed in bed that long! Hurriedly checking her messages, Ichiko saw that Yumemi had texted her to tell her that she and Suzume would be over at about 12:20.

Darting out of the bathroom, Ichiko quickly put her room in order. Pausing to look at Rui's pillow and blanket, Ichiko felt a swell of an unknown emotion in her heart; it made her feel happy and lighter. She swiftly pushed the emotion down, and made her bed, tucking the blanket into the sides, and placing the pillow with hers. The different shades of blue stood out against the light cream of her pillows and sheets.

Shaking her head, Ichiko pulled on a jacket and her shoes, walking out on the street to greet Yumemi and Suzume who had just rounded the corner. Returning their excited waving, Ichiko headed down to meet them, her thoughts up in the sky, where a certain general was trying very hard to explain to his king why he had been acting so odd earlier without telling him the truth. It didn't help when Munto demanded to know what was in the blue bundle Rui had been carrying earlier; oh why was the universe against him today!?

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Finished my first multi-chap story! :D I'm so proud of myself! I will admit to having fun writing this chapter. I hope I still kept Rui mostly in character. And as you all can see, I threw in a few of my headcannons (Rui's pillows; Ichiko & Rui not being morning people; etc) but I how that didn't take any of the enjoyment out of reading the last chapter of my multi-chap story. If you enjoyed it in the first place. Review if you did? Or if you have some pointers for me? Please?

And I'd like to thank you for reading this story through to the end! So, Thank You so much for reading! :)


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